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2022 ATM,2022-1 STM APPROPRIATION CONMTTEE 21 MARCH 2022
<br /> comprises four divisions: Recreation, Pine Meadows Golf Club, Community Center, and the Administrative
<br /> Division. The enlarged Department is still funded largely through the enterprise fund, which receives income from
<br /> a wide range of fee-supported programs. The Department receives supplementary support from the tax levy.
<br /> Historically, the Recreation Fund's operating budget was supported solely by program and facility fees. With the
<br /> opening of the LCC, however, which added the cost of several full-time employees to provide programming
<br /> available to all residents that is not generally supported through fees, a decision was made to appropriate from the
<br /> tax levy the additional amount necessary to cover those costs. The original appropriation from the tax levy for this
<br /> purpose in FY2016 was $217,000, and similar amounts have been appropriated from the tax levy each year since.
<br /> The advent of the pandemic midway through FY2021 had a significant impact on recreation operations, activities,
<br /> and fee income. With the suspension of many recreational and Community Center activities and the consequent
<br /> decimation of program and facility fees, it became necessary to augment the amount from the Recreation Fund with
<br /> additional funds from the tax levy. At the fall 2020 Special Town Meeting, an additional $400,000 was
<br /> appropriated from the tax levy for this purpose. Combined with the prior appropriation at the annual town meeting
<br /> for LCC staffing of$218,916,the total tax levy subsidy in FY2021 was $618,916.
<br /> The FY2022 budget, as approved at the 2021 Annual Town Meeting, included a direct transfer from the tax levy of
<br /> $509,215, inclusive of the usual transfer for LCC staffing. This amount anticipated that the effects of the pandemic
<br /> might continue through at least part of the fiscal year, and aimed to offset revenue losses, maintain core Department
<br /> functions, and enable the Department to resume full operations if and when the pandemic subsided. The FY2022
<br /> budget also suspended the Recreation Fund's annual payment of indirect expenses to the General Fund, which was
<br /> $277,771 in FY2021, for a total effective FY2022 tax levy subsidy of approximately$800,000.
<br /> The proposed appropriations for FY2023, and changes from the prior fiscal year, are shown in the table below. The
<br /> total FY2023 budget is about $835,000, or 32%, more than the appropriated FY2022 budget. The increases are
<br /> largely due to recovery from the effects of the pandemic in the prior two fiscal years, and these include the costs of
<br /> the program improvement requests for a part-time recreation coordinator and printing and mailing of a program
<br /> brochure. The amount of$47,000 for replacement of a vehicle is also included via a program improvement request.
<br /> Recreation and FY2021 FY2022 FY2023 Dollar %
<br /> Community Programs Actual Revised Requested Increase Change
<br /> Compensation $ 896,659 $ 1,342,201 $ 1,567,753 $ 225,552 16.80%
<br /> Expenses $ 892,248 $ 1,247,735 $ 1,571,240 $ 323,505 25.90%
<br /> Debt Service - - - - -
<br /> Total Requested in Article 5 - $ 2,589,936 $ 3,138,993 $ 549,057 21.20%
<br /> Indirect Expenses (Article 4) $ 277,771 - $ 286,104 $ 286,104 100.00%
<br /> Total $ 2,066,678 $ 2,589,936 $ 3,425,097 $ 835,16132.20%
<br /> The sources of funds to support the FY2023 budget of the Department, including the tax levy, are as follows:
<br /> • Enterprise Fund retained earnings, $375,000
<br /> • Projected recreation user charges, $1,461,752
<br /> • Projected Community Center user charges, $445,555
<br /> • Projected Pine Meadows Golf Club user charges, $900,000
<br /> • Tax levy, $242,790.
<br /> The projected distribution of funding in FY2023 among the four divisions of the Department is as follows:
<br /> • Recreation, $1,426,153
<br /> • Pine Meadows Golf Club, $550,800
<br /> • Community Center, $629,962
<br /> • Administration, $532,078.
<br /> Fee-Setting. The Director of Recreation and Community Programs and the Recreation Committee set fees from
<br /> time to time for use of the Town's playing fields, gyms, other recreational facilities, and for certain recreational
<br /> programs with the goal of covering all operating costs of those fee-generating activities. The proposed fees are
<br /> subject to the approval of the Select Board. If actual revenues come in higher than projections,the resulting surplus
<br /> becomes part of the Recreation Enterprise Fund's retained earnings and can be used for future operating expenses,
<br /> capital costs of the enterprise,to lower fees, or to absorb future losses.
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